First turtle genome shows beauty more than shell-deep

When hibernating, western painted turtles can freeze solid and stop breathing. After a long winter without oxygen, submerged in ice-covered ponds, they just wake and pick up where they left off.

(Image: Tracey Haynes Photographs)

An international team of researchers have sequenced the turtle genome looking for novel genes to explain these unique physiological adaptations. However, the turtles don't rely on unique mutations for their superpowers. Instead, they find new ways of activating commonplace gene networks.

For example, the researchers identified 19 genes in the brain and 23 in the heart that are activated in low-oxygen conditions, including one gene, APOLD1, which was expressed nearly 130 times as much as normal. These genes also are present in humans, so they are good candidates to explore for treatments for tissue damage due to oxygen deprivation.

"This is a back-door route for turtles to evolve," says co-author Patrick Minx of The Genome Institute at Washington University in St Louis. "Rather than evolve new genes, they adapted existing genes for new uses."